The Gods of Taladoun
Taladoun is home to a number of Gods who have shaped the world in their images and with their constant conflicts with one another. However, before all the Gods existed, there were only three, the Great Gods; Saul, Arienne and Zericks. The Great Gods of Taladoun Saul (NG) created the sun and stars in the sky, shining light down upon the barren Taladoun world. As the sun flooded the dry land, grass and trees began to grow, absorbing the energy of Saul's creation. Seeing that the light could only reach so much of the world at one time, he set Taladoun on a spin, creating the cycles of day and night. Saul is often called the God of the Light, the Sun God and the Day Raiser. -> The Tenets of Saul are: 1) Embrace the truth like sunlight, with an open mind and regardless of the consequences. 2) Inner balance is key, do not deny your darkness or light sides. 3) Arienne (TN) saw potential in the barren world and was inspired after Saul created the sun and grass and trees began to bloom from the light. She littered the world with trees, plants, flowers and all manner of smaller creatures, the first beasts of the world. Seeing only dry earth, she spilled the seas into the great valleys of the world, creating the Great Ocean that surrounds the land of Taladoun. Arienne is known as the Mother of the Gods, the Creator and the Matriarch. Arienne is also the creator of the Dragon race, the first of all the sentient mortal races in Taladoun. Over the centuries, both her Great God comrades and her children would lend their powers to the Dragon race, creating the different colors and metallic dragon species. Zericks and Saul would each champion a dragon, creating the Lesser Gods Tiamat (the evil Dragon Goddess of the Colored Dragons) and Bahamut (the good Silver Dragon God of the Metallic Dragons) -> The Tenets of Arienne are: 1) Understand and obey the cycle of life. 2) 3) Zericks (LE) is said to have been born as Saul's completely opposite. Where Saul created the sun to shine light on the world, Zericks loathed the light and desired the shadows. He pushed the ground up, creating the mountains of the world and casting parts of the world in shadow, even during the day. He delved out the great valleys that would become the Great Ocean, as well as the underground labyrinth that would one day be the Underdark, a devious place filled with creatures that enjoyed the shadows almost as much as Zericks himself. Zericks is known as the Dark God, the Shadowed Lord and the Blighter. -> The Tenets of Zericks are: 1) Strive to abolish the light and those who revere it. 2) Punish those who would deny the darkness, even within themselves. 3) Obey Zericks before all others. One thing the three Great Gods were able to agree on was that they needed a place to call their home. Zericks had created the mountains of Taladoun and the three took to the highest peaks at the very northern most part of the world as their home. These mountains would become known as the Crown of the World and it said that they are so high, they are never visible from the ground because the clouds never part long enough to see that high. The Mid Gods of Taladoun Arienne, Saul and Zericks combined their powers and life forces in order to create their first children, known as the Mid Gods. These new Gods may have come in lesser power, but they had just as massive an impact on the world of Taladoun, creating their own children (the Lesser Gods) and even their own mortal races. Arienne and Saul came together to create the Mid Gods Wyrtas, Korum and Lacenne while Zericks and Arienne came together to create Erias and Soltaire. Wyrtas (CN) sailed out under the sea, reveling in the darkness and depths of the deepest valleys underwater. He created the Merfolk, the few great beasts of the seas (such as the Kraken). Many of the land-dwelling races of Taladoun offer tribute and pray for favors from Wyrtas for safe travel on the seas and rivers of the world. Pirates worship him as a truly fair, unbiased God as he does not differentiate between "good" and "evil" like the lesser races, caring only for the survival and care of his beautiful valley floors and sparkling seas. -> The Tenets of Wyrtas are: 1) Those that traverse the seas do so only with Wyrtas' permission. 2) Take nothing from the sea you will not return. 3) The deepest valleys of the ocean are for Wyrtas and his Chosen only. Korum (LG) delved deep into the ground for treasures and found them all, sparkling in the dirt and darkness. He would hollow the mountain ranges and create great underground pathways and caverns. His greatest work would be what is known as the Underdark, though he did not originally intend for it to become the treacherous world that it has. Korum created the Dwarves as caretakers of the land, teaching them magics that would help them shape dirt and stone and help them gather precious metals, gems and all manner of other things. He also taught them to befriend and tame the flying creatures of the outside world, realizing that hiding underground would never be a means of survival in the world for very long. Lastly, he created the Giant races, protectors of his precious mountains. -> The Tenets of Korum are: 1) Cultivate the land, do not simply harvest it's treasure. 2) Protect the homelands, even at the expense of your life. 3) Travel the world, but never forget where you are from. Lacenne (CG) found her home in the shaded forests, laying in the grass and breathing in the fresh air of the fields. She cultivated the land and created great groves of giant trees that she eventually gave the spark of life, creating the first Treants. These treefolk would protect the borders of her woods, and later her next great creation, the race of Elves. At first, there were only a handful of Elf creatures, all living outstandingly long lives. As the race grew, so did their comprehension of the world and it's magic. Soon they became powerful druids, shaping the forests, trees and befriending all manner of beasts found there. However, as their understanding of magic grew, they realized they would outgrow their precious forests and the risk was that the forest would give way to their need for space. So the Elves migrated to the plains and fields, crafting great cities from their magic. Lacenne, while disappointed to see her prized children part from what she considered their homeland, was pleased at their growth, maturity and understanding of the situation. She created the Satyr and Centaur races next, tying them closer to the natural magic of the world. These races would continue to dwell in the forest, protecting and cultivating the land. -> The Tenets of Lacenne are: 1) Bond with the land as you would bond with your companions. 2) Take and destroy nothing of the natural order. 3) Erias denounced the darkness of her father Zericks and sought to bring light even in the darkness. To accomplish this end, she created the two moons of Taladoun, Ollimas and Daris (meaning "First Light" and "Last Sight" in the Old Tongue) so that there is nearly always a moon in the night sky. Once every 500 years, though, both moons find themselves shaded and total darkness rules the night for a month. Zericks, feeling betrayed by his daughter's creation, struck her down, trapping her essence in the largest lake in all of Taladoun. He would then bend the power of the moonlight to his own will, creating the Lycanthropes and scattering the various creature-hybrids through the world. Erias' prison-lake would attract the attention of a settlement of Satyrs, Centaurs, Elves and later Humans that would come to know and worship Erias, asking for her blessing in return for hunting down the Lycanthrope plague that threatened their homes. She would grant this in the form of a ritual where the youth of the tribes would be dipped in the water for Erias to peer into their hearts. If they were found to be worthy, they would emerge with silver hair and eyes. If they were not found worthy, they would emerge untouched. Soltaire would also come to embrace the sunlight, though his affinity for it would drastically change the world. He would travel south of the tall mountains and soak in the sun and heat, scorching the earth of its forests and grass until all that was left was burning sands. He created the first desert and the lack of trees or mountains created a sun-scorched terrain. Seeing this as much of a treachery as his daughter's moons, Zericks once again struck his offspring down, the absorbed energy of the sun being trapped in one of the few mountains in the Sumara Desert that had been created. This energy, Soltaire's essence created the great Soltaire Volcano, home of the the Phoenix, a creature that would plague Zericks' pets of the Fire Giants and Efreeti that would come to call the volcano a home. It is said that the remains of Soltaire lay at the bottom of the volcano and are extremely powerful artifacts. To this day, no one has found a way to reach them through the temperatures that can instantly melt steel. The Lesser Gods of Taladoun After a time, the Mid Gods would create children of their own, the Lesser Gods. Like their parents, the Lesser Gods would go on to influence the world even more, from creating their own mortal races to waging war upon the world of sunlight. While most of the Lesser Gods are created by Mid Gods, Zericks would create his own army of Lesser Gods, the Nine Demon Lords. Unlike his children Soltaire and Erias, these dark, devious creatures would cling to the shadows like their master and also seek to abolish the light and drag the surface world into darkness and ruin. Zericks would also create Baal, the great Devil King who would be the one to aid the Dark God in creating the Abyss, a plane of existence without sunlight, only visible by the flames of the wretched souls that are dragged there. The Abyss would be shaped like a spiral with nine different levels. Each of the Demon Lords would claim a level with Baal claiming the Center Spire as his home, giving him access to all the levels at his leisure. The Demon Lords are Lilth the Demon Spider Queen of the Dark Elves, Diablo the Deceiver (who would later be enslaved to the service of Baal), Ifrit the Fiery Rage Lord, Rakdos the Slumber Lord of Destruction, Lissandra the Ice Witch, Hel the Guardian Mistress, Daedra the Obsidan Titan, Edea the Serpent Queen and In time, the Demon Lords would consolidate their power and force their minions, the Demons, Horrors and Nightmares to the surface world, slaughtering thousands of mortals in their wake. Saul and Arienne saw this and gave brith to Arcus, the Archon General. Arcus would create the first race of Immortals, the Archons and wage war back against the Demons, giving the mortal races their greatest ally. As the Archons fell from battle, though, Arcus refused to let their sacrifices and honor simply disappear and used the last of their power to reincarnate them, creating the race of Humans. This new race would, for centuries, be a scattered, unorganized people until they would eventually begin to organize and pull together. Even now, the Human race is smattered all over Taladoun, having only a single city created by them (Lastoom in the Southern Continent) Soltaire and Korum would create Baur, who would create the Orc race. Uninterested in the world below the surface like his father, Baur reveled in combat and feats of strength. He settled his mortal race in the desert and taught them honor and the nobility behind ruling through strength and combat. The Orcs became a force of warriors under his tutelage, though over time some of his children would migrate away from the burning sands and fall into more devious cultural practices (such as cannibalism, sabotage and other dishonest forms of combat that Baur refuses to condone). Korum would also create Gorgon, the Horned God that creates the Minotaur race. Like his father, Gorgon would settle his people in the mountains but would find more pleasure in the labirynths of the mountains. His people would come to call the Jagged Pass their home, the pass itself a winding road with many dead ends. The Minotaur race, much like the Orc and Dwarf races, would come to respect strength, but would also find a strong bind to the rough, jagged terrain around them. This would lead them to train powerful shamen that could converse with the spirits of the land itself, often using this ability to their advantage by changing the terrain in their mazes to confuse attackers or other unfortunate intruders. Saul and Zericks would each champion a dragon that held up their tenets the best. Saul's champion would be the only Platinum Dragon to ever exist, Bahamut and he would become known as the Dragon God of Justice. Meanwhile, Zericks would champion the five-headed colored dragon Tiamat, who would become the evil Dragon Queen. The two would call their kin to their side in a never-ending conflict that would dominate the Dragon races for all of history, colored dragons and metallic dragons always at odds. The conflict, ironically, would whittle their numbers down, making Dragons a rare sight in this day and age. However, those dragons that still live are the oldest and most powerful of their kind, making a dragon sighting a dangerous one as well. Lunias would be created by Erias and Wrytas and would become an idol to rogues, thieves and bards. She would quickly become infamous for playing tricks on the other gods and their mortal children. Some even believed her to be a cruel Goddess, but in truth, she finds humor in her actions, even when they sometimes come at the expense of many mortal lives. Those that pray for her favor consider her the Goddess of Luck, seeing as how she always manages to find a way to turn the odds in her favor. Wyrtas and Soltaire would come together and create Kyros, the Tempest God. Kyros would find pleasure in patrolling the coasts, wrecking havoc with his storms, hurricanes and other forces of nature to beat down against the fine line between land and sea. Dragonborn would come to consider Kyros a test of their strength, often building their port cities in anticipation of the chaos his coming would bring. Some sailors would even come to revere him as a means of challenging their prowess and proving that they were truly worthy of sailing the seas. Many druids consider Kyros to be a god of revival, his storms often washing away the old sand or the "plague" of civilization and giving nature a chance to regrow.